Spirit

In the body, mind, spirit triad, the spirit aspect is the least tangible and seemingly elusive part. We can feel and move our bodies, use our minds to think or daydream, but it takes a leap of faith to trust in the invisible realm of spirit.

Spiritual vs. Religious

Religion is for people who are afraid of hell; spirituality is for people who have already been there.

I’m not sure the origin of this quote, but in many ways it rings true. But that all depends on the definition of religion, which is taken to mean a sect that believes in a certain dogma with rules and various things that we are told to believe. Spirituality is more of a mystical approach that puts the individual’s direct experience of God, or Nature, or the Universe at the center.

Religion actually comes from the root, ligare, which means to bind together, which is also where the word ligament comes from. I prefer to use the term religion in this way, as opposed to this religion of that religion. This is similar to the word music, in its largest sense, without getting caught up in a debate between this kind of music or that kind. Music is music. Art is art. These are concepts that can hold everyone, including their differences, but when it gets broken down to ‘my religion’ versus ‘your religion’, then the true meaning of the word is lost.